A group of Northwestern State University students have gotten a crash course on the playwrights who were responsible for the birth of realistic acting.
Two and a half weeks of intensive study will culminate in a workshop celebrating playwrights Henrik Ibsen and Anton Chekhov Monday, March 4 at 3:30 p.m. in the Jack Wann Theatre on the second floor of the A.A. Fredericks Center for Creative and Performing Arts. There is no admission and the See Plays page 7B workshop is open to the public.
Wann, the former artistic director and coordinator of theatre at Northwestern State, has returned to the university for the fourth consecutive year to teach an intensive class of two to three weeks.
“It has been enjoyable to teach the students about the birth of realistic acting,” said Wann. “Ibsen and Chekhov were the first playwrights to expect the actor to think. They wanted the actors to collaborate more. I’ve tried to teach about how this style came into being.”
The workshop will feature seven scenes, four from works by Ibsen and three from Chekhov. Performances will include scenes from “A Doll’s House” with Patrick Mahoney as Torvald and Coryn Bourgeois as Nora, two scenes from “Ghosts” with Tyler Price as Engstrand, Shannon Harger as Regine, Lindsey M. Page as Mrs. Alving and Cameron Metrejean as Osvald and “The Master Builder” with Timothy Callais as Solness and Sharla Mills as Hilde.
The scenes by Ibsen will include “The Seagull” with Cory M. Germany as Treplev and Sarah Roberts as Nina, “Uncle Vanya” with Myesha-Tiara McGarner as Sonya and Latreshia Stormer as Helene and “Ivanov” with DeAngelo Renard as Ivanov and Natalie Sibille as Sasha.
“I am pleased with the work done by the students,” said Wann. “Many of them have been performing in other productions here or taking part in the regional American College Theatre Festival in Shreveport, but they have been able to keep up.”
Wann retired from Northwestern State in 2003 and was named professor emeritus. He returned to NSU in 2006 to direct a summer dinner theatre production of Kiss Me Kate and teaches acting classes in the spring semester each year. He is writing a book on the teaching of Ibsen and Chekhov. Wann maintains an active schedule that includes teaching, directing and acting.

A group of Northwestern State University students have gotten a crash course on the playwrights who were responsible for the birth of realistic acting.

Two and a half weeks of intensive study will culminate in a workshop celebrating playwrights Henrik Ibsen and Anton Chekhov Monday, March 4 at 3:30 p.m. in the Jack Wann Theatre on the second floor of the A.A. Fredericks Center for Creative and Performing Arts. There is no admission and the See Plays page 7B workshop is open to the public.

Wann, the former artistic director and coordinator of theatre at Northwestern State, has returned to the university for the fourth consecutive year to teach an intensive class of two to three weeks.

“It has been enjoyable to teach the students about the birth of realistic acting,” said Wann. “Ibsen and Chekhov were the first playwrights to expect the actor to think. They wanted the actors to collaborate more. I’ve tried to teach about how this style came into being.”

The workshop will feature seven scenes, four from works by Ibsen and three from Chekhov. Performances will include scenes from “A Doll’s House” with Patrick Mahoney as Torvald and Coryn Bourgeois as Nora, two scenes from “Ghosts” with Tyler Price as Engstrand, Shannon Harger as Regine, Lindsey M. Page as Mrs. Alving and Cameron Metrejean as Osvald and “The Master Builder” with Timothy Callais as Solness and Sharla Mills as Hilde.

The scenes by Ibsen will include “The Seagull” with Cory M. Germany as Treplev and Sarah Roberts as Nina, “Uncle Vanya” with Myesha-Tiara McGarner as Sonya and Latreshia Stormer as Helene and “Ivanov” with DeAngelo Renard as Ivanov and Natalie Sibille as Sasha.

“I am pleased with the work done by the students,” said Wann. “Many of them have been performing in other productions here or taking part in the regional American College Theatre Festival in Shreveport, but they have been able to keep up.”

Wann retired from Northwestern State in 2003 and was named professor emeritus. He returned to NSU in 2006 to direct a summer dinner theatre production of Kiss Me Kate and teaches acting classes in the spring semester each year. He is writing a book on the teaching of Ibsen and Chekhov. Wann maintains an active schedule that includes teaching, directing and acting.

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